Opp signs four, steals one from Ivy League

This might be the first time an Ivy League school and SIU have ever shared a common interest.

The Salukis beat out Brown and a few others to sign Julie Madura to a national letter of intent this week and picked up three other recruits during the early signing period.

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Joining Madura will be Clarise Jones from Regina Dominican High School in Chicago, Bernettra Grayer from West Side High School in Gary, Ind., and Laura Cooper, who hails from Xenia’s Flora High School.

Madura, who is a senior at Conant High School in Schaumburg, is considered a steal by head coach Lori Opp, who said SIU’s business program was the reason Madura decided to forego Brown.

Opp describes Madura as a terrific student, a great shooter and good defender.

Also heavily recruited was Jones, who turned down Northern Illinois, Illinois State, Marquette and Wisconsin-Milwaukee to play in Carbondale.

Jones was named of the Chicago Tribune’s 50 players to watch this season and was a Street and Smith’s All-American Midwest Honorable Mention.

Grayer, a three-time all-conference pick who Opp said can run like a deer, led her team to three consecutive sectional titles and hails from the same high school as SIU basketball alums Kasia McClendon and Melaniece Bardley.

“She’s very fast,” Opp said of Grayer. “She’s a sleeper in the Chicago area. She has played behind real quality players at Gary West and has been overshadowed by a lot of people.”

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Most familiar to the Salukis, however, is Cooper. Opp said she has practically watched Cooper grow up as she attended SIU women’s basketball camps the last few years and she will have no problems fitting in on the team.

Cooper already knows the team, the campus and players – most notably Danette Jones. Danette played against Cooper her first two years of high school and has tremendous respect for her talent.

“She’s a really good player,” Danette said. “She’s a guard who can handle the ball. She can shoot off a dribble or when she’s open for three.”

Opp said Cooper’s best attribute is her three-point shot. According to Opp, Cooper can shoot from the arc and sometimes beyond it.

“She shoots the three with deadly accuracy,” Opp said. “The kid can flat-out drill it – and from deep.”

This is one of SIU’s better recruiting classes of the past four years, Opp said, and she expects all four to make an instant impact and compete for a starting position. The Salukis have filled all their roster spots, so pending a career-ending injury, SIU is finished recruiting.

“This is certainly one of the better ones and it’s nice to have completed it early,” Opp said. “This the first time I’ve been here and the first time in my 14-year career that we’ve filled all of our spots early, and now we can look at ’04.”

Reporter Michael Brenner can be reached at [email protected]